A Romance In Reverse
by karatam
Summary: Things do not always go as planned, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.


**Title**: A Romance In Reverse  
**Rating**: PG  
**Pairing**: Quinn/Rachel  
Spoilers: none  
**Summary**: Things do not always go as planned, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.  
**Disclaimer**: All characters belong to Fox and Ryan Murphy. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made from this work of fiction.

* * *

_This _

Rachel stretched the tape over the top flaps of the cardboard box, using her elbow to keep them down. Smoothing it out with one hand, she reached for the permanent black marker sitting by her knee and popped the cap off. She wrote her name and new address across the top and then capped the marker again.

Steps sounded in the hallway and Rachel raised her head, looking into hazel eyes. Quinn leaned against the doorway, hand jammed in the pockets of her jeans.

"Well, that was the last one, I think." Quinn ran a hand though her hair, trying to stop her hands from shaking; trying to project an image of confidence she didn't feel.

"I think so. The guys are nearly done loading the van downstairs," Rachel replied. "I never knew there was so much stuff." She tried to laugh, lighten the mood, but it stuck in her throat and the smile faded off her face.

Quinn scuffed her foot across the carpet, staring at the floor. "So I guess this is goodbye." She looked up and her eyes were red.

"Oh, Quinn," but there was nothing to say at this point, nothing that hadn't been said before. Hesitantly, Rachel reached out and wrapped her arms around Quinn's shoulders. The blonde buried her face in Rachel's neck and let out a sob into brown hair. "Oh, Quinn."

Quinn pulled back and wiped her eyes with the back of a hand. "I know, this is the way it has to be. I just wish it wasn't."

"Me too, Quinn, me too." Rachel tucked a piece of blonde hair behind Quinn's ear and went up on her toes to kiss her on the cheek. "You'll always be my first love, Quinn." She smiled, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks, and Quinn tried to smile back.

"You should go, Rach, you have to be there in less than half an hour."

Rachel bent and picked up her purse and the last box. When she straightened, she walked to the door and paused, turning around to look at her now ex-girlfriend. "Goodbye, Quinn." She dug into her pocket and produced a key, hesitantly leaving it on the little table by the door. Then, with one long last look at Quinn, she left the apartment.

"Goodbye, Rachel."

/ /

_This isn't_

"Goddamn it, Rachel!"

"Don't you dare swear at me, Quinn Fabray!" Rachel was angry, livid – furious even. Quinn was being unreasonable and not listening to a single word she was saying.

"All I'm saying is that maybe I should have a say whether you move halfway across the country!" Quinn was trying as hard as she could to not just cry, being mad was the easiest way.

"This is my _dream_, the one I've had since I was three years old. I am _not _giving up an opportunity like this. I can't, not again." As soon as Rachel said the words, she wished desperately that she could take them back.

Quinn's face went still, her eyes blank. "Well, I guess there's nothing left to say, is there?" And with that, she turned on her heel and walked to the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

Rachel remained standing in the middle of the room, eyes wide and frightened. She had been offered the lead in Wicked on Broadway and had immediately started planning the move to New York from Columbus. This was her life's ambition, what she had been working on for as long as she could remember.

But then there was Quinn, who loved her and their quiet life in Ohio, who liked things simple and consistent, which New York definitely wouldn't be. Rachel loved Quinn, but she loved Broadway, and she just desperately hoped that she wouldn't have to choose.

Because she wasn't sure that Quinn would win that fight.

/ /

_This isn't the_

"Quinn, we can't afford this, not even close." Rachel looked around the mostly empty apartment, ignoring the real estate agent standing by the entryway.

"But it's beautiful." Quinn walked around in the kitchen, pulling open drawers and cupboards at random. She knew they couldn't afford this, wouldn't be able to for years, but she had wanted to see it anyways. She had wanted to see what their lives could be like in the future, once they had everything ironed out.

"I'll never be able to make enough money doing theatre here in Columbus, Quinn. There's just no way." Rachel once again found herself wishing that she lived in a city where- She cut off that line of thinking before it got her in trouble.

"I'm due to be promoted soon." But Quinn knew that it wouldn't be near enough to afford this. "I just wanted to look."

She turned to see Rachel staring out the bay window, eyes focused far in the distance, and she wasn't brave enough to ask what the brunette was thinking about. She wasn't sure it would be good news for her.

/ /

_This isn't the end_

Rachel slipped in bed and leaned over the body lying next to her. She peered at Quinn's face, trying to figure out whether it was worth waking the blond to say hello. She lay back down without saying anything.

They hadn't seen much of each other lately, even though they lived together. Quinn always had to get to the office early, while Rachel didn't have to go in until past noon, but she wouldn't get home until after Quinn went to bed.

She turned onto her side and reached out a hand, sifting it through soft strands. She inched forward slightly until her nose touched the back of Quinn's neck and carefully wrapped an arm around Quinn's waist.

"Rach?" Quinn's voice was heavy with sleep and she barely attempted to turn around to see her girlfriend.

"Shhh, go back to sleep, hun." Rachel squeezed slightly and relaxed against Quinn's warm body.

"M'kay," Quinn mumbled and started to softly snore.

Rachel just smiled and closed her eyes.

/ /

_This isn't the end, but_

The first drops fell slowly while they walked toward Quinn's apartment, spotting the jacket Quinn had laid across Rachel's shoulders a little while earlier. Rachel was always getting cold in the evenings, but never remembered to bring warmer clothes with her. Quinn glanced down at Rachel and stopped, her arms wrapping around Rachel's waist. Rachel looked up at her quizzically, but didn't say anything, just waited for Quinn to explain.

"Just give it a second," Quinn said as she tipped her head up towards the sky.

They both waited, standing on a sidewalk at dusk, watching the sky. The clouds were thick enough that the stars weren't visible, only the fading streetlights gave out any light on the block.

"Here it comes." The clouds opened up and rain started falling in earnest, soaking them both to the skin quickly. Quinn tipped her head down with a bright grin on her face.

Rachel shivered; she wasn't sure if it was the cold or something else, but it made Quinn tighten her grasp on the brunette. Rachel lifted her arms to wrap around Quinn's neck and stretched upwards to softly touch their lips together. "It's beautiful, Quinn."

Quinn stared right into her eyes as she replied, "Yes, it is." Rachel couldn't help her blush, which made Quinn laugh lightly before pulling away and grabbing her hand.

"Come on, we need to get back before you freeze to death." They ran back to Quinn's apartment, giggling the whole way.

/ /

_This isn't the end, but the_

Quinn woke up slowly, her thoughts not quite ordered yet and her eyelids heavy. She scrunched up her nose in an involuntary yawn and stretched out her legs languorously. Lifting a hand to rub the sleep from her eyes, she turned over slightly and just watched the woman lying beside her.

As first night together go, it had been wonderful and Quinn couldn't stop the blush from reaching her cheeks as she thought back to the evening before. Rachel was forward, to say the least.

Without realizing it, her hand had drifted over to Rachel and was gently stroking up and down over the smooth skin of Rachel's back. Her eyes were drawn to the elegant sweep of Rachel's spine and she leaned over to place a soft kiss between Rachel's shoulder blades.

"Good morning." The words were mumbled in a pillow, barely intelligible. Rachel turned her head, a smile on her lips, to look up at Quinn.

"Good morning is right." Quinn grinned as Rachel chuckled.

Quinn leaned in to kiss Rachel softly, smiling against her lips when she felt a hand wind into her hair, pulling her down more firmly. She didn't resist.

/ /

_This isn't the end, but the beginning_

Rachel was reading the nutritional information on the back of a Cheerio's box when she heard her name called from down the grocery aisle.

"Berry? Rachel Berry?" She turned in surprise at the familiar voice and smiled when she saw Quinn Fabray looking back at her, a hand resting on a half-full cart.

"Hello, Quinn. I didn't know you were in Columbus." Rachel hadn't seen her since they had graduated high school nearly five years ago.

"I got transferred to the Social Services office here." Quinn let her eyes trail up and down Rachel's body, taking in everything that had changed in the last few years. "You look good, Rachel."

Rachel looked down at herself and then looked back up into Quinn's smiling hazel eyes. "Thanks. You too." She smiled.

Quinn glanced down when her watch beeped angrily at her. "Shit, I have to go, but can we meet up again? I need someone to show me around Columbus." Rachel nodded and started reaching for her phone when Quinn grabbed her hand and pulled out a pen. "Call me as soon as you're free, okay?"

Then with a flash of bright blond hair, she was gone. Rachel glanced down at the back of her hand and smiled when she saw the words written across it.

"Hello to you too, Quinn."


End file.
